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fionamclary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
However, I found the lore to be frustratingly thin. It didn't make sense to me how many seemingly basic aspects of magic were unknown to Occulture before the events of the story
Also, I really want a movie version now just so that Nathan Foad can play Theodore. I think that would go so hard.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
blewballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
madamenovelist's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
analenegrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Plotwise, the first half of this book is quite slow, and it took me a while to get into the mystery part, but at about the 50% mark, it picked up, and I flew through the second half. Mysteries are not my favorite genre, but this, a fantasy setting with queer and disabled characters, was very enjoyable. The twists and turns were engaging, and although I figured out who did it before the reveal, it was less than ten pages before the reveal when I said, "Oh shit wait what if it's this character!?!?" so Smythe did a great job of keeping the reader on their toes with who the murderer was.
I felt like some of the dialogue between these characters felt too young for how old they are, but I appreciated Mallory's internal dialogue beyond her disability; her relationship with her best friends was very relatable and understandable as a disabled queer reader. I was a little unhappy with the last little bit as I was hoping that the character would stay gone, but I understand that for the sequel to work, this character needed to return. Lastly, I was not particularly a fan of how they decided to continue working with the cops, even if they weren't signing a contract, simply Fuck the Police...
I am really looking forward to the sequel, even with my criticisms!
Best Line: "Mallory was sick of grinning and bearing every little thing that came her way. Sick of accepting help and pretending it didn't make her feel like shit, sick of also being afraid to ask, never quite able to smush the feelings down, never quite able to contain her grief, her rage, her loneliness. Sick of having a career on a plate and not being able to grasp it with both hands. Sick of being sick."
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
se_wigget's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lbelow's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
displacedcactus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Spoilers ahoy!
Like seriously. If Mallory had killed a cat or a dog, no reader would forgive that. But because it's "just a bug" it's ok? But it's not ok. It wouldn't be OK if someone was upset at being left out by their friends and smashed one friend's car up, or destroyed their favorite sweater or deleted their video game file, let alone killing an important if miniscule living creature, causing serious damage to that creature's colony.
I almost DNFed right when the beetle squishing happened, but I kept reading, because the way it was written with a bit of distance, I almost thought that it would come out that some magic was making her extra volatile, but no. We're never given a satisfying reason beyond "I was pain and my life sucks and my friends have fun without me and this tiny animal did me a tiny hurt so I killed it."
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I picked it up for the tagline: "Be Gay. Solve crimes. Take naps." The writing didn't immediately click for me because I couldn't quite get a feel for the setting and characters, but I stuck with it for the absurdly endearing character of Theodore (an irrepressible ghost stuck in the ridiculous cat costume he died in on Halloween), the excellently portrayed chronic pain rep, and the Gen Z voice of it all. By the end, I found myself hoping that this is going to be the first in a series.
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A book about three witches and a ghost in a cat costume trying to catch a serial killer? And it’s queer? Sign me up.
I really enjoyed this, the characters are great and the humour is on point (though won’t be for everyone, I’m just corrupted by tumblr). I loved the world-building too, particularly all the little details about the different groups (witches, faeries, vampires…) and their customs.
The main character is disabled, having fibromyalgia. This is at the forefront of the book and she has to deal with the limitations this imposes on her. I really liked this aspect, as well as how queer everything in the book was. The world seems to be queernormative, or at least there are no homophobia plotlines.
The mystery was entertaining, despite me guessing the major reveals. I still like how it was done though.
My main pet peeve about this book is the use of “goddess” where in our world we would say “god”. eg ‘oh my goddess’. This is a general ick of mine in books as it always feels forced to me. Not holding it against the book too much though!!
This is currently a standalone, but had a fairly open ending and I can absolutely see this world being turned into a series where The Undetectables have to solve more crimes!
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Toxic relationship